Loud House: Attack of the Mutant
by Mysterious Mr M
Summary: All they wanted was forgiveness for throwing him out and almost inadvertently killing him. They did not want an evil comic book supervillain, created by a horror writer, coming to life with a plot to take over the world.


**A/N: A little idea I had recently. Will only be continued when Shadow Luck is done, where this will then take it's place as the story to update in between chapters for the Marvelous Eleven. A story is planned, though there's no set number of chapters. If you'd like to help out, PM me. As usual I own nothing, Loud House belongs to Chris Savino and Nick, and Goosebumps belongs to R. L. Stine.**

* * *

The sounds of police sirens blared throughout the streets in the dead of night as numerous patrol cars sped down the asphalt pathways like speeding bullets. Many officers readied their guns, steeled themselves for what they were to experience tonight, all the while trying to quell the trembling they were doing. Citizens locked their doors as they blitzed down the streets, closed their blinds, and hid behind their curtains as the local law enforcement went to the source of the nights distress.

All the while a figure in yellow and red ran across rooftops at breakneck speeds, heading to the same location.

* * *

 _(Royal Woods, Michigan. Museum of History, 11:35PM.)_

The multitude of cars approached the building, coming to either a calm stop or a skidding one. Not a single one didn't know what to do. Some would stay in the cars at the ready to call for backup, others would head outside the vehicles with guns at the ready and fully prepared to shoot the rogues that disturbed the quiet night. And others still would watch the back in case of any sneak attacks, or if any hero arrived.

Nobody moved, nobody at front diverted their gaze from the museum doors, and nobody handling a gun dared to utter a sound for fear of triggering something. All was silent, all was tranquil, all was quiet. Too quiet.

All of that changed when an explosion burst a hole in the front of the museum. Many officers were either blinded, left with ringing ears, or forced back by the force of the eruption.

"Fire!" Screamed the chief despite the ringing that was no doubt blocking the order. But the police were not idiots, they swiftly got back up and opened fire on the chasm in the wall before them. The first bullet to fly into the flames just as quickly came back out and shattered a windshield. Luckily the officer inside wasn't hurt.

Out of the flames came a pre-teen hispanic girl with freckles dotting her face, black hair tied into a tomboyish ponytail with purple highlights, and a purple domino mask covering the upper half of her face. She wore a black costume with a purple belt, purple knee high boots and elbow length gloves that ended in pointed fittings, and a purple O with additions that made it also look like a capital G on her chest. The most prominent things about her thought was the fact that not only was she was floating in midair, but that around her were all of the remaining bullets fired.

* * *

 _Orbit Girl_

 _Age: 11, going to be 12 in a few months._

 _Occupation: Supervillainess_

 _Powers: Gravity Manipulation_

 _Allies: The Malefic Five_

* * *

"Oh shit," yelled one officer, "it's Orbit Girl. Duck and cover!" Without a moment's hesitation all of the officers either fell to the ground or ducked in their cars just as the villainess sent the bullets flying at them. The sounds of metal hitting metal, glass breaking, and plaster being hit rang throughout the area. No one was brave enough to get up for fear of the girl not having used up her ammunition.

Smirking at the cowardly cops Orbit Girl looked around the small sea of cars before landing her gaze on one that wasn't obstructed by something. She smiled wickedly as she carefully aimed her last bullet near the vessel. A math wiz she was not, but even she knew that if she did this just right the bullet would hit the gas tank and cause the car to explode.

And explosions were cool.

But before she could execute this endeavor, a red booted foot slammed into the side of her face, sending her back into the museum and causing her to drop the bullet harmlessly to the ground. The one responsible for the kick flipped back towards the cops, and looked over her shoulders.

"She's gone now, you can literally get up now." She said with slight agitation in her voice at the cops.

Hearing the voice the enforcers of the law came back up to see their savior, only for the chief to gasp and run toward her in relief. The person in question was a caucasian teenaged girl with large blond hair, and white pearl earrings adorning her ears. She wore a yellow and red costume with yellow being the predominate color, a red belt, red gloves and boots with lightly feathered ends, and a red mask that too covered the upper half of her face. On her chest was a red capital G. Atop her head were actual gazelle horns.

"Oh, Gazelle, am I glad to see you." Said the chief as he dabbed the sweat on his forehead away with his hankey. "And just in time too, thank the lord."

Gazelle rolled her eyes at the chief. "Just doing my job chief." She looked toward the hole she had knocked Orbit Girl into and asked, "Was she the only one?"

The chief shook his head despite the teen's attention not being on him. "No, she's the first one we encountered, and if she's here than the rest of the Malefic Five are here too."

"Not necessarily," Gazelle disagreed as she walked toward the museum's new entrance. "This could just be a distraction." She looked back over her shoulder at the chief. "Stay out here, so what you were doing before, and make sure no one gets in. Got it?"

The chief nodded and Gazelle raced into the museum in search of her foe.

Looking back to his men and women the chief said. "Alright everyone you heard her, back to what we were doing, and make sure no one gets in there."

* * *

The inside of the museum was a wreck. Stands and exhibits were toppled over, various parts of the woodwork were either scorched or torn asunder, and the destruction made a clear path to a specific area of the building. All of this was what Gazelle noticed upon entering the place.

"Tch. Nice to know that they still like mindless destruction." She muttered sarcastically as she ran the place through to assess the damage.

After a quick moment of searching the lace for any more damaged parts she went back to the foyer, and casually walked to the path of destruction. "Alright they're clearly expecting me, so I might as well not keep them waiting." She zoomed down the ruined hall, unaware of the items strewn about floating into the air and blocking her way back.

After speeding down the hall the teen hero entered something that screamed trap. An untouched, undamaged, and spotless room with a large green gemstone at its center that was protected by reinforced glass. It was like the universe was asking for someone to steal it. Cautiously stepping into the room, Gazelle warily looked around in case a villain was waiting in the shadows around the door to strike her while her back was right in front of them. Seeing nothing that could be considered out of the ordinary she walked up to the protective glass, gazed at it's charge, and read the plaque.

"The Gansehaut Quartz, discovered in germany during the mid to late 90s, this gem was given it's name by the archaeologist who uncovered it while reading a book of the english translated name." Gazille rolled her eyes at the inscription. The person who discovered it must've been a weird person to name a priceless gem after a young adult horror book.

"Boo." Gazelle jumped back at the sudden voice from nowhere and frantically looked around for it's source.

"Over here." Said the voice. Gazelle stopped looking in shock and slowly turned her gaze back to the gemstone. Only to see two narrow and yellow eyes looking at her with wicked glee. The voice broke out into malicious laughter as it changed from a glistening gemstone into a tall and powerful looking man wearing a blue and orange costume, cape and cowl with narrow, orange lenses in the eyes.

The glass shattered as the man towered over a shocked out of her wits Gazelle. "Hello, Gazelle, the four of us have been expecting you." The man said with an evil smile.

Gazelle jumped back from the man and took a fighting stance. "Mutant! I should've known you'd be here with Orbit and - wait did you say 'four of us'?" She asked before a bench slammed her into the wall.

"That was for that kick earlier Slick-O." Orbit Girl said as she lowered herself from the roof. Gazelle shook her head to clear the dizziness she had sustained from that sneak attack, and boosted into a charge at the gravity controller. Only to have someone land on her shoulders from above, strap cuffs made of an indiscernible colored energy onto her wrist, and flipped in front of her while pulling her by the arms so he could launch her into a column with his feet.

Gazelle slammed into the column back first, ultimately better for wear, but with a certainty of feeling back pains for the next few days in her future. If she lived that long.

"Nice one, Meta." Orbit Girl said flashing a thumbs up to her teammate, who merely got back up onto his feet and nod to her.

The villain in question was a boy around Orbit's age, wearing a full body costume that made him look like a humanoid nebula cloud. With the dark blue and purple mainly appearing on the head, torso, upper arms, and thighs, and the light blue being centered on the forearms and parts of the leg from the knee down. The suit made his eyes appear to be golden yellow dots.

* * *

 _Meta Man_

 _Age: 11-13_

 _Occupation: Supervillain_

 _Powers: 4th Wall Awareness, 4th Wall Interaction, Fantasy Connecting, Xeno Energy Manipulation_

 _Allies: The Malefic Five_

* * *

"Excellent work, Meta Man, you performed brilliantly." The Masked Mutant praised his cohort as he lowered himself from the podium. He looked over to their downed enemy as she tried to get up despite the back pain. "As much as I would love to break you further Gazelle, we must really being going now. Besides we couldn't have you possibly following us with that speed of yours." He started.

"So we came up with this trap to incapacitate you," Orbit Girl continued, "and all we needed to do was wait for the cops to show up." She guffawed at the predictability of it all.

"Now we have the Gansehaut Quartz, and are that much further to making the world as it should be: ours!" The Masked Mutant said triumphantly as he looked to Meta Man for any additions to the conversation.

Meta Man merely gave a look to his older partner in crime and looked back at Gazelle blandly. Though it was hard to tell what look he was giving her exactly.

The Masked Mutant merely gave a strange hum before turning back to Gazelle. "In any case we must be off."

The man's form changed from a man in a costume into a large purple and yellow bird capable of carrying two people. The two pre-teen villains got on him as Orbit girl changed the gravity of a section of the roof to cause it to collapse and give them an exit. Gazelle tried to get up despite the pain in her back, but was blasted into the wall by a villain hidden in the shadows who quickly joined the tweens on the back of the Mutant.

"So long slowpoke." Orbit Girl said snidely as the Mutant took off into the night sky. Gazelle could only groan as she laid next to the wall and watched the villainous quartet get away.

As her eyes got heavier and droopier, Gazelle found that not even the sound of rushing police men could arouse her from the fit of unconsciousness she was about to endure. And with that Lori Loud fell unconscious.

But let's rewind a bit. How did Lori end up becoming a superhero? Since when were there supervillains? And how did this all start? Well, dear reader, the answer lies in the Loud House six months ago. Roughly a month after the event known as No Such Luck.

* * *

For many people in Royal Woods it was a perfectly fine Sunday, birds were singing, flowers were blooming, and it was a great day for a picnic. In fact, for many, it was a great day in general. A great day for everyone but the Loud family. Who were both apologizing and trying to earn the forgiveness of the only boy in the family, Lincoln Loud.

Why they were doing so was because they had not only stupidly allowed their superstitions to override their common sense and threw him out of the house without any means of protection. But also because they refused to let him in when he came clean about his bad-luck charade, and made him wear a mascot squirrel suit for a whole day at the beach in the boiling, sweltering heat of the sun because they believed it to make him good luck. Oh, and he almost died because of a heat stroke while the girls got stung by wasp, shocked by jellyfish, pooped on by birds, and given a single rocky road ice cream bar.

Sufficed to say, after all of that happened to them and they found Lincoln passed out in the sand with the only airways in the suit cut off by the ground. They quickly abandoned their superstitions, got him to a hospital, and profoundly apologized while on their knees the moment he woke up. Of course the moment he did wake up he, true to his surname, balled out his parents and sisters on their idiocy. It lasted for well over an hour, with the hospital staff allowing them to stay after visiting hours to let the boy blow them, and his steam, off.

By the time he was finished he had proclaimed that, until they can honestly earn his forgiveness, despite the fact that he lives in the same house as them they are not family to him. And to say that the family was shocked by that statement would be like saying Lynn liked to give dutch ovens. Even after he had been discharged, brought home, and given time to himself he made it clear that he was sticking to his guns on this.

There would be no favors until they had earned his forgiveness.

There would be no modeling, or helping with designs, until they earned his forgiveness.

There would be no help with instruments, jamming, or rock concerts until they earned his forgiveness. There would be no help with jokes, puns, Funny Business, or tolerance of any comedy. No sparing of any kind, assistance with poems, helping hand with pets, coaching for pageants, or assisting with experiments. There would be absolutely nothing until they convinced him that they earnestly meant it when they said that they were sorry.

While what he did was wrong, the notion that karma was at work and that he was getting his just desserts was completely thrown out the window the moment they threw him out. And the family was quick to catch up on this. So in turn they did everything they could think of to earn the forgiveness of the white haired boy.

They bought him the new Zizento Swap along with Maria Trek*, Zip Artillery*, Zip Frenzy*, and Fearsome Hitter Rupture.* What they got in return was a wordless thanks and a door slammed into their faces.

After his laptop quit on him, Lori got him a new laptop with everything on his old one backed up onto it. She got a wordless thanks and a door slam to the face.

Leni made him an orange suit and orange undies made out of the same material as his victory undies. She got the same thing as Lori.

Luna made him a song. She got the same result as the previous two sisters.

Luan made some self deprecating jokes about the sisters and their parents with apologies mixed in. She got a door slam as well, but only after she was finished. Lincoln may have been mad but he wasn't rude.

Lynn got a door slam immediately, but not before a kick to the crotch.

Lana got a door slam after asking for help with her pets, and Lola barely got a word in before Lincoln grabbed her tiara, broke it, threw the remains at her, and slammed the door. Only to reopen it and hock a loogie into her mouth. Honestly, everyone else silently agreed that she deserved that.

Lisa simply got pointed to go to her room, and acquiesced. While Lily was the only one allowed in his room.

The one's who got the second farthest however were Lynn Sr. and Rita Loud, the parents of the eleven kids themselves. Although, if you asked Lynn, they wished that they didn't get as far as they did. Said farness was actually getting into the pre-teens room, and while he was reading comics in his undies no less, with an entire speech about how sorry they were at the tips of their tongues. By the time they were done the glare that Lincoln was giving them made it quite clear that he didn't buy it, but not for the single reason that they thought he did.

The boy had proceeded to tell his parents of every last thing the sisters have either done and gotten away with, pinned on him, or done to him.

He told him about Lori's threats to turn him into a human pretzel, about her "chores for favors" deal, and every single time that she used him as an ottoman.

He told them about Leni's constant embarrassment of him whenever she invited her friends to show them a dress still in progress, while he's modeling for it.

He told them about Luan's constant pranks, and reminded them about all of her prankapocalypses.

He told them of every last "sparring" session with Lynn, and every last time she attacked him out of nowhere.

He told them the truth about the "Princess Pony Incident".

He told them about every single time Lola blackmailed and threatened him, as well as her overall treatment of him and the rest of the sisters.

He revealed every time Lisa experimented on him and the rest of the sisters without their knowledge. And revealed that Lily was the only member of the family that he didn't disown, on the account that she was a baby and didn't know any better.

But, after all of that, he then proceeded to tell the parents themselves off. And while Lynn Sr. was definitely distraught and disheartened at the things his son said, it was Rita who took everything he said the hardest out of the two of them. After being balled out by their only son, and kicked out of his room, the two simply went to bed. With Lynn going to the couch of his own will, and Rita having the bedroom all to herself so she could vent to her heart's consent.

Though that may have been yet another horrid idea on the Loud patriarch's part.

As the days went by and Lincoln refused to consider any of them family, Rita's condition only seemed to get worse, and worse, and worse. While she kept up her hygiene, both dental and physical, she was regularly found at the house, seated at the table, and softly pounding her head while repeatedly telling herself what a screw up she was. She couldn't be out of the house long enough before she'd see a family with a son and start crying. And at work they quickly caught on that she was unfit to do anything productive, so her boss gave her a paid leave until she got better.

It's now been a month since all of that happened.

* * *

Clyde walked to the Loud House with a new issue of Ace Savvy, straight from the store and uread. Ever since he and Ronnie Anne had found out what had happened to Lincoln, and the current situation regarding the Loud family as a whole, he had been making it a habit to regularly visit the home to hang out with Lincoln. More often than usual at least. The bespeckled african american boy gave a sigh as he made sure not to crinkle the comic.

"I still don't get it," he thought, "how did they just think that they can do all of that and expect him to forgive them almost immediately afterwards? I mean, I'm sure they knew that he wouldn't forgive them easily - they'd have to be stupid to think so. But did they really think that things would become all hunky dory after all of that?"

He came up to the Loud's yard and went up to the front door. As he was about to ring the doorbell he remembered the defect in it and knocked on the door instead.

He gave another sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "At least they're learning their lesson: family before fiction." He thought before the doorknob turned and the door opened revealing Lori Loud.

And Clyde didn't have a nosebleed, spaz out moment, or fainting spell.

"Oh, um, hey Clyde." Lori said as she rubbed her arm nervously. "Lincoln is upstairs if you're here to see him."

"Thanks." Clyde said curtly as he stepped into the house and closed the door. The boy took a quick look around the area to survey the family's current state. The TV was set to Blarney meaning that the twins and Lily were watching. There wasn't any loud music or jokes to be heard, so Luna and Luan were either out or just not doing their things. Leni was more than likely crying into her pillow, and Lisa was either in her room doing an experiment, or watching Blarney with the twins and Lily because the situation was just that bad. There wasn't any sign of Lucy or Lynn, so that meant that either they were either in their room. Or that Lucy was in the vents and Lynn was elsewhere.

A quick turn of his head to the dining room gave the Ace Savvy fan a good look at Rita, who was doing what she was normally found doing nowadays. Except this time she had a bottle of fake tears with her, meaning that she more than likely cried herself out of tears for the day. The mumbled insults to herself just made the picture all the more saddening to him.

Turning back to Lori the boy said, "I'm going up to Lincoln's room." To which she nodded and got out of his way, walking to her mother in order to try and comfort her since Lynn Sr. was at work for the day. Quickly walking up the steps and making a right, the boy knocked on the only Loud son's door.

"Come in." Said Lincoln.

Clyde opened the door, entered, and closed it behind him. "Hey Lincoln, how are ya?"

"Could be better." He replied.

"Well, I've got just the thing to help with that." Clyde said as he sat on Lincoln's bed and handed him the comic. "The newest issue of Ace Savvy, just came out today, and I got the last one before Renee could."

Lincoln looked blankly at the comic in question. A few months ago he had been looking forward to this issue, as it had been the final part of an ongoing storyline regarding Ace and his evil counterpart from another dimension, Jack Shrewd. But now? Now he just couldn't care less about it.

Handing the comic back to Clyde, Lincoln said. "Thanks for the gesture Clyde but you can either put it on the shelf with the others, or keep it." Shocking Clyde.

Thoroughly befuddled by his best friend's words Clyde asked, "But why? You've been looking forward to this issue for months!"

Lincoln shrugged. "I'm just not in the mood for Ace Savvy right now. Thanks again, but I'm going to have to pass."

Still bamboozled by the words of his best friend Clyde simply nodded, got up, and left the room. Leaving Lincoln to himself.

A quick trek down the stairs, and walk into the eyes sight of Lori and Rita, and Clyde was still in shock.

"What happened?" Lori asked.

"He didn't want the comic." Clyde said quietly.

Lori's eyes widened in shock. "What?" She asked.

"He didn't want the newest issue of Ace Savvy," Clyde clarified, "the one that he's been looking forward to for months. The last part of the storyline he said just might be his new favorite. He didn't want it."

"I-I-Is that bad?" Lori asked despite knowing the answer.

"Bad? Bad doesn't even cover it!" Clyde shouted. "The whole disowning thing can easily be rectified if you earn his forgiveness and respect. But this? This is something he likes, something he loves, and this whole mess is making him disregard even that!"

"Well we wouldn't be having this problem if he would just suck it up and accept our apology!" Lola shouted from the couch.

Clyde turned around to see that Lola had inserted herself into the conversation by putting herself over the back of the couch. Clearly she was still mad about the broken tiara and loogie to the mouth.

"If you actually bothered to try, and not look at yourself in a mirror every few minutes. Then maybe you'd have resolved this thing quicker." Clyde said bluntly.

"Excuse me?" Lola shouted. "Are you saying I'm at fault for this? I did nothing whatsoever! Lincoln is the one who's overreacting and being a crybaby about it!"

"At least the others tried to earn his forgiveness, what have you done other than badger him to help coach you for another pageant and get a 'no' in return?" Clyde asked rhetorically. "When you do nothing, you get nothing. Lincoln is perfectly justified in the way he's acting, heck, after what you all did I'm surprised he didn't call child services. But the only reason I'm putting a foot down now is because it's starting to affect him negatively. Heck, it might have already been and we just hadn't noticed."

"Well what do we do?" Lori asked causing Clyde to turn to her.

"What have you tried?" He asked.

"We got him new video games, offered trips to Dairy Land, made him gifts specially tailored from our respective hobby's, apologized in every conceivable form we could think of, and got him any Ace Savvy Comics he didn't have." Lori listed off what they've done so far.

"Admittedly we had to sneak into his room in order to find out what he did and didn't have." Lana spoke up from the couch as she held Lily.

Clyde sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I think I see the problem."

"Oh yeah, and what's that four eyes?" Lola barbed.

"Everything you've done is related to things that he likes, things that he expects from you in some form or another." Clyde replied over his shoulder. "Did you get him Zombie Bran?" Lori nodded. "Then the problem isn't that he's being stubborn, it's that he doesn't see what you're doing as actual effort."

"What?" Lori asked tilting her head in confusion.

Clyde sighed, actually wondering how he fell for this woman. "As I said, everything you've done up to this point has been linked to things that he likes in some form or another. You following me?"

Lori and Rita nodded.

"By focusing on only things that he likes, and hoping to appeal to that, you show Lincoln that you're searching for both an easy way out and a quick means of forgiveness. Not actually thinking outside the box to earn his forgiveness, or giving any effort." Clyde said.

The Louds in the room thought on the boy's words and quickly got what he was saying.

"So, by only going by what we know he likes, he thinks that we aren't putting effort into earning his forgiveness and being lazy." Lori reiterated before slamming her head to the table. "Then what do we do!?"

Clyde shrugged. "I don't know."

Lola spoke up. "We could get him another comic?"

"So long as it ain't Ace Savvy, Muscle Fish, or Zip the Quickster. Good luck with that." Clyde rolled his eyes at the diva's suggestion. "Link ain't gonna like just any comic you give him, it's gotta be something he can sink his teeth into. Something familiar, yet different from what he already has. You already got him the games he wanted this year, completed his Ace Savvy collection, for the moment, and apologized every which way to Sunday."

"So he's never going to forgive us?" Lana asked as she hugged Lily tightly afraid of the prospect of her big brother never forgiving her. Said baby began to tear up once she heard her say that.

"No, no, no, Lana," Clyde quickly turned to the couch and reassured the tomboy, "what I mean is that you're going to have to try something new in order to show him that you want him to forgive you."

"Well what else could there literally be?" Lori asked her voice muffled from the table.

Clyde hummed in thought at that question, tapping his chin as he rattled his brain for answers. After a minute of silence, a usual rarity in the Loud House until the current situation popped up, he snapped his fingers in inspiration.

"I got it!" He said before turning back to the eldest sister, who still had her face planted into the table, and the matriarch, who looked at him in hope. "There's a new comic that came out today made by a new company, um, Stine Literature I believe it was called. Owned by the guy who wrote the Goosebumps books, and recently came back into writing after an incident in Madison, Delaware. Something about a freak wild animal attack, or something like that. Anyway, the comic is based off of one of the characters in his books, and it's a comic with superheroes."

'But I thought you said that getting what he likes would only make him think we're lazy." Lola said confused.

Clyde turned to meet Lola with a smug smile. "Ah, but here's the thing little diva," Lola frowned at that nickname, "this is not a superHERO comic, it's a superVILLAIN comic."

"What's the difference?" Lola asked.

"Duh, superhero comics focus on superheroes, while supervillain comics focus on supervillains." Lana said whilst rolling her eyes. "Honestly, Lola, I don't know anything about comics and even I knew that."

Lola stuck her tongue out at Lana who stuck hers back out at Lola.

"Anyway," Clyde said before turning back to Loud's mother, "it's free comic day at the comic store, so you won't have to pay a thing to get it. It's similar enough for Lincoln to get interested in, but different enough to convince him that you're putting effort into this. All you gotta do is go get it and give it to him." He put his hands on his hips in confidence, and smiled in smugness.

For the first time months Rita Loud smiled. Only for that smile to falter. "But what's the name of the comic?"

Clyde's eyes opened in shock as he realized the one flaw in his suggestion: he did not know the name of the comic. Nervously rubbing the back of his neck he said. "I don't know." Crushing Rita's hopes.

Seeing the woman about to bang her head against the table, Clyde quickly intervened. "But I'm sure if you ask the clerk at the store he'll tell you what you're looking for. Just ask for the comic made by Stine Literature."

Stopping herself at Clyde's words, Rita thought on them. The more she thought on them, the more the idea seemed like it would work. But the more it seemed like it would work, the more it seemed like it would backfire and fail.

"But then again," she thought, "Lincoln seems to know about that more than anyone in the family." Deciding to go through with it she got up from the table, grabbed her phone, and checked the times for the next bus to the comic store.

"Lori is in charge," she said, "don't bother Lincoln, or destroy the house."

The door closing was the last thing relating to her that they would hear for the next couple of hours.

* * *

When in a comic store, and looking for a specific comic, one thing that one must be mindful of are the other customers. Especially on free comic day. When this day rolls around any and all comic stores opened become a mini black friday, with hands grabbing for everything and anything, people fighting and brawling over a single item, and the inevitable injuries to follow.

Luckily for Rita Loud the worst had already been done and over with. Now it was just the mellow customers who smartly waited outside while the chaos reigned inside. But this was not about them, this was about a mother seeking redemption form her only son.

Stepping up to the clerk's counter the matriarch of eleven looked about in confusion, as the employee was nowhere to be seen.

"Hello?" She asked only to be shocked out of her wits when a man came up and pointed a bottle of pepper spray at her.

"Back you-!" The clerk said before taking a good look at who he was pointing his weapon of eye pain at. "Oh, you're not one of those savages? Sorry about that." He put the spray down as he awkwardly fixed his appearance and smiled, revealing that he lost a tooth. "I'm Darrel Quiver, how may I help you?"

Slowly getting over what had just happened, Rita said. "I'm looking for a comic for my son as a gift."

"Oh, well, there are plenty of comics that you can pick from." A card stand fell over. "That aren't torn or bought anyway."

Looking back from the fallen stand to the clerk, Rita said. "Um, no, I'm looking for a specific comic made by Stine Literature, I believe they were called."

The clerk's eyes widened in shock. "Oh, you mean that new one that just came in today? That thing's been selling like platinum encrusted, gold coated, diamond filled hot cakes. It'd be a miracle if I still had one left." He did a double take at a spot on the ground behind the counter, bent over, and came back up holding the comic in question still in it's plastic baggage.

The cover of the comic depicted a powerful looking man in a purple and yellow costume dynamically leaping toward the reader with a tall pink building with yellowish green domed roofs in the background. The title at the top of the paperback read "The Masked Mutant" with a tag line below it reading "He's no superhero. He's a supervillain!" On the side of the book read "#1 in the Goosebumps comic line!" alongside the title.

"The Masked Mutant," said Darrell as he set the comic down on the counter, "based on the titular character of the 25th book in the original series 60 Goosebumps books. Got a two part television special as part of the TV series adaptation, with Adam West guest starring, and as I said has been selling like crazy."

"Wow," Rita said amazed, "there's quite the history with this Mutant, huh?"

"You kidding?" Darrell asked jokingly. "When talking about something related to the guy who revolutionized children's literature, you don't skim. Much." He took out a plastic bag and put the comic inside. "Anyway, since it's free comic day, you can have it for free."

"Oh, are you sure?" Rita asked as she took the bag and looked around the place. "It seems like you could use the money for damages."

Darrell waved her off. "Ah, don't worry about it, every comic store in the country has a backup savings account, courtesy of the government, dedicated to repairs. How do you think the malls survive Black Friday?"

Rita chuckled softly. "That's true." She turned to leave. "Well thanks for the comic, Mr. Quiver."

"Please, Mr. Quiver was my father, just call me Darrell."

"Okay, Darrell." Rita said just as she exited the shop and boarded the bus to home just in time.

* * *

Lincoln wasn't mad, no, at this point you couldn't even say that he was annoyed. He was disappointed. Disappointed in his family for so callously putting their superstitions over their only son and brother. Disappointed that it took him almost dying for them to realize their mistake. And disappointed in Lynn for not seeing her errors or faults. While he did make the situation worse by lying about being bad luck, and then staging incidents to make it seem real. He never would have gotten the idea to do so had Lynn actually took her loss like the pro that she pretended to be, kept her mouth shut, and didn't blame it on both luck and him. What he did was wrong, yes, but he was not the only person to blame for the whole mess. Nor was the rest of the family innocent either. They willingly committed a felony, used him as a charm, and only learned when something drastic happened.

No, they were not family to him, they were just strangers. And they would only be family to him again when they've proven that they genuinely learned from this and earned his forgiveness and respect. He already learned his lesson, in the most disproportionately distributed way possible, and now it was time that they learned a lesson. Not from cops, or his murder, or from him running away. But from his silence, apathy, and complete disassociation with them.

Lincoln Loud? No, to him, it was just Lincoln until further notice.

A knock on his door broke the boy from his enmity born retrospective, and with a sigh he got off the bed, went over to the unboarded plank of wood, and opened it. Fully expecting it to be one of his sisters trying another - in his opinion - lazy attempt to earn his forgiveness. But he was genuinely shocked when he saw his mother on the other side of the door, and not, say, Leni, Luna, Lana, or Lily. Heck, he even expected Lori to be on the other side of the door. Even if it would be for fear of him giving bad word of her to Ronnie Anne and, subsequently, Bobby.

But no, the one who had knocked had been his own egg donor. The one he spent a whole day with, the one who reassured him that she and his sperm donor would never throw one of their own out. The one woman who had to be one of the biggest hypocrites Lincoln would ever have known.

The very same woman who had a bag from the comic store in her hands.

Raising an unimpressed brow at her, Lincoln moved to close the door in her face like he did with all of the others. Only for Rita stop him and look at him with pleading eyes.

"Lincoln, honey, please. I'm not here with a half-assed apology gift, or something that you would completely expect from us." She pleaded as her only son gave her an unimpressed look. "If you just let me in, and let me talk to you for a few minutes, I'll leave immediately afterwards and stop badgering you for forgiveness." The deadpan look remained. "Please?"

Letting out an exasperated sigh, the ivory headed boy opened the door fully to allow Rita entry. When she sat on the bed he closed the door loudly, not slamming it per say, but closing it hard enough to send a message to the others. A message to not interfere and leave him alone.

After the boy sat down on his swivel chair he crossed his arms and looked at her with apathetic eyes. Waiting for her to talk. For the next few minutes, the mother of eleven tried to start the conversation. Opening her mouth to say something, only to close it almost immediately afterwards, rubbing her arms in nervousness, and rustling the bag in her lap out of anxiety. It was one thing to be nervous for a job interview, but it was another thing entirely to try and start a conversation with a family member you had so viciously wronged. Especially when it was an apology.

After a few minutes of silence, and Rita's constant nervous stalling, Lincoln had enough. "Well?" He asked.

The woman flinched at the tone of voice he used with her, and frantically tried to find something to say. When it was clear that she wouldn't be talking any time soon Lincoln got up from the chair, and went to the door. Aiming to open it and throw his former mother out.

"This is a waste of time." He said about to open the door.

Only for Rita to grab him by the shoulder and say, "Wait!"

Causing Lincoln to furiously turn to her and loudly ask, "Well? Are you going to say something? Or just sit there like a nervous wreck and waste my time? Time that I could be using to further distance myself from you hypocrites, may I add."

"I-I-I-!" Rita stuttered as she tried to force the words out.

"You what?" Lincoln sardonically asked throwing his arms up. "You're sorry? As if I haven't heard that a million times now! Every last apology from you people is always the same!" He yelled. "'Lincoln, we're sorry," he mocked, "'we didn't mean it', 'please forgive us', 'we'll never do it again!'" He furiously pointed at Rita and stomped toward her, causing her to back away in fear. "That's what you all sound like: broken records who don't mean a god forsaken thing that they say! Lying little rats who say whatever sappy junk they can think of, just so they can have a clear conscience without actually fixing, addressing, or tackling the actual problem!"

Rita was backed up against the backboard, quivering as her son yelled at her. Not daring to say anything until it was clear that he was finished.

"You don't mean what you say, and you never meant what you said! You just say things to placate me so you all can take advantage of or abuse me however you please, and I'm sick and tired of it!" Lincoln yelled as he stalked closer to Rita, who was shrinking into herself.

"You want me to forgive you? Then how about instead of these pointless, thoughtless, careless, half-assed, half-hearted and lazy apology gifts. You actually," a flock of crows is heard as Lincoln cursed, "prove that you actually," a barrage of car and truck horns blares from outside, "changed your sad and," a plethora of random noises comes from nowhere as the boy let loose a string of curses that would make a sailor blush, "pathetic selves!" He finished his tirade as he heavily breathed in and out, face flushed red as sweat actually began to go down his form in an attempt by his body to cool him down.

Rita slowly uncurled from herself, warily looking at her son with worry as his heavy breaths reverberated throughout the room. After slowly uncurling herself and getting up from the bed, the Loud mother swiftly enveloped her son in a warm, loving, and firm yet comforting hug. The boy tried to resist at first, but his fatigue from letting out his pent up rage rendered his attempts useless. With little to do the boy rested his head on Rita's shoulder, allowing himself to be lost in the hug, and eventually let out a choked sob as tears began to rapidly form and fall down his face.

"Why did you throw me out?" The sobbing boy tearfully asked after a few minutes. "All I wanted was some time to myself, some quiet and peace without having to go somewhere else to get it. Is that too much to ask for?"

"No, honey, no, no, no." Rita assured Lincoln as she stroked his back. "That's a perfectly fine thing to ask for, but why didn't you ask or say so?" She asked.

"Everyone else would've just forced me to go if I declined in anyway," he said, "heck, Lynn threatened me with a bat when I declined going to her game and told her why."

Rita broke the hug to look at her crying son. "When did she do that?"

"You remember the game she lost a month ago? The one she said she lost because I was bad luck?" Lincoln asked.

"Yeah." Rita said.

"That was the game she threatened me to go to." Lincoln confessed.

To say that Rita was both shocked and mad was an understatement. She was baffled and livid at what was revealed to her just now. She thought she and Lynn had raised Junior better than that, but apparently she was wrong. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to call her sports jock of a daughter and give her the worst reprimanding and punishment she could think of. Bar throwing her out, since that was what got them into this mess with Lincoln in the first place.

"But," she thought to herself as she wiped Lincoln's tears away, "I can deal with Junior later. Now I have a son, an only son, to deal with." Leading Lincoln back to his bed the matriarch took the boy into her lap and grabbed the discarded bag.

"M-Mom, what are you doing?" Lincoln asked.

Ignoring the urge to squeal at the fact that he had called her mom again, Rita said. "I can deal with Junior later, Lincoln. Right now I have a son to help make better, and spend some mother-son time with. Starting with this new comic that I got from the comic book store."

"But I already declined the newest Ace Savvy comic that Clyde got me." Lincoln said in confusion as they laid down. "And I thought you said that this wasn't a half-assed gift."

Rita lightly chuckled at Lincoln's response. "Ah, but this isn't the newest Ace Savvy comic book," she said as she pulled the comic out, "this is the newest comic period. And I think you'll like it." Lincoln hasped in awe at the comic before him. "The Masked Mutant issue #1, the first in the Goosebumps comic line by Stine Literature."

"Wow," Lincoln said as he lightly took the graphic novel from his mother. He quickly leafed the pages while holding the book next to his ear and looked at his mother with eyes widened from shock. "T-T-Two hundred seventy five pages, not counting the covers and notes pages."

Rita giggled at the boy. "I was wondering which of you inherited that skill from me." She went over to the door, locked it, and laid back down next to Lincoln with said boy snuggling up to her as they began to read the book.

"Alright, the Masked Mutant, attack of the mutant." Lincoln began.

"Deep in the bowels of an old power plant, a sinister plot was hatching."* Rita continued, reading the caption.

* * *

The two took a lot longer than what one would expect when reading a comic book. They examined the artwork, with Lincoln providing the details of artwork in a comic, and Rita expressed her liking of how the words and pictures complemented one another. By the end of it the two conversed about theories on where the comic would go from here, what the Mutant's master plan was, and possible members of the Malefic Five.

Suffice to say, Lincoln had definitely forgiven his mother. Especially since she actually bothered to try out something he liked rather than just blandly give him something relating to it.

* * *

It was nearing bedtime for the Loud children when Rita stepped out of Lincoln's room with a smile on her face and gently closed the door. Upon turning from the panel of wood she was met face to face with the rest of her nervous family; including Lucy and Lynn. All of whom were already bathed and in their pajamas, and dying to know what had happened. Except for Clyde since he had gone home.

But before one of them could even speak, Rita put a finger to her lips and directed them to go downstairs. After going down as quietly as possible and holing themselves up in the living room Luna asked. "So what happened?"

"You were in there for a long time." Leni said.

"Was there any issue?" Luan asked. "No pun intended."

"I heard yelling." Said Lucy.

"Does he finally forgive us?" Lola pompously asked.

"We didn't do anything." Lana said bluntly. "That was all Mom, so don't try to take credit for something you didn't even do." Before Lola could say anything back Rita whistled.

After they all stopped talking, Rita started. "First off, Lola, it's as Clyde said: if you do nothing, then you get nothing." Lana smugly smiled at Lola who stuck her tongue out at her. "Second off, Lincoln and I did talk, more or less, and we did end up reading the comic."

"How big was that thing?" Lori asked, befuddled on how reading a comic could take so much time.

"Two hundred seventy five pages, not including the covers or author notes." Rita recited causing Lori's jaw to drop.

"So, mother, does Lincoln forgive us?" Lisa asked since, despite how little she showed it, she too was melancholy about how Lincoln was treating them. It was especially hard for her since she was a woman of science and what had lead to them doing what lead to this predicament greatly discomforted her.

"No, Lisa, no he doesn't." Rita softly said making everyone sad. "As of right now I'm the only one he's forgiven, aside from Lily since she's a baby, and even then that's only because I did something that he didn't expect."

"Didn't expect?" Lola asked enraged. "All you did was get him a comic! How is that 'something he didn't expect'?"

"Watch your tone young lady." Rita scolded Lola while giving her a motherly glare, shutting the spoiled girl up. "It was unexpected because he was expecting a comic he liked, not one that I thought he might like. Through giving him that comic, and reading it with him, I showed that I cared about him enough to actually think about him. By not giving him something I knew he liked, I showed that I wasn't apologizing out of obligation, or just to clear my conscience, but because I cared."

After her tirade the family became lost in thought, going silent for a good few minutes before Luna spoke up.

"So, by giving him what he likes, he sees us as being lazy and not caring about the apology?" She asked.

"It goes a bit further than that sweetie." Rita said as she took a seat in the armchair. "Yes, when we do that he sees us as lazy, uncaring, hypocritical excuses for family members." The sisters and patriarch looked down in sorrow at that revelation. "But the reason isn't just because he sees it as us not caring about the apology, but also as us not dealing with the root of the problem." She looks at Lynn Jr. "Speaking of which, Lynn Jr."

Lynn, seeing the look her mother was giving her, silently gulped in anxiety. "Yeah, Mom?" She asked.

"As I talked with Lincoln he told me some very interesting things." Rita drummed her fingers against the armrest.

"Oh," Lynn said now sweating profusely, "and what 'things' are those?"

"Oh, nothing," Rita said her voice getting angrier and louder with each syllable, "just that the game that you lost, and blamed on him, a month ago was a game that you forced him into going to by threatening him with a bat!" Lynn flinched at Rita's words. "So tell me, Junior, was your brother, who was crying into my shoulder as he told me this by the way, lying to me?"

The way Rita spoke and the tone of her voice choked the resilience out of Lynn. A skill that mothers throughout the ages had perfected. And it was because of this skill that Lynn could not tell a lie.

"Y-y-yes?" She said as if asking a question.

"Are you asking me, or telling me?" Rita asked.

"T-t-telling." Lynn squeaked as her sisters turned to her one by one, all glaring at her with gobsmacked expressions. Even Lily, who was automatically forgiven by her brother, looked at Lynn with rage.

"Lynn, are you literally telling me that this whole 'bad luck' nonsense happened because of you?" Lori growled.

"Are you like saying that we put Linky outside because you threatened to beat him with a bat?" Leni asked angrily with tears in her eyes.

"I helped put my bro outside like an animal because you can't keep you head on straight? Am I right love?" Luna wrathfully asked clutching her guitar.

"Even I'm not that heartless." Lucy said.

"So this is all your fault!?" Lola shrieked with Lana holding her back rendering her unable to give her two cents.

"Y-yes." Lynn squeaked again as she tried backing into the couch as her sisters surrounded her. Dear old Dad having gone over to his wife when it was clear that the girl's would not be happy.

Fortunately for Lynn her beatdown was not going to be tonight as Rita whistled again to get the girls under control.

"Now girls, I understand that you're angry with Junior." She ignored Lori's cry of 'Angry doesn't cover it!' "But remember, I'm the mother here, and I decide her punishment with input from your father. Or do we want another 'Sister Fight Protocol' level of punishment?"

The nine livid girls froze at the mention of that particular punishment. Never again would they do what they did to Lincoln during that fiasco, they had sworn. And look where they were now. At least that offending protocol was destroyed.

Rita turned her gaze back to Lynn. "Now, Junior, as punishment for starting this whole mess you are banned from playing, coaching, going to, and turning anything into a sport until further notice. All your balls and sports related items are to be removed from your room by the end of this week, and there is to be no horseplay, roughhousing, or meatball subs even associated with your person until your punishment is over. Do I make myself clear?" Lynn nodded. "Good."

"So, what do we do now?" Lucy asked.

"Now you think outside of the box with your apologies from now on." Rita said as she took a yawning Lily into her arms. "I'm going to take Lily up to her crib and check on Lincoln. By the time I'm done with the latter, I expect you all to be in bed. Understood?"

The girls nodded in understanding as Rita went upstairs.

"Good." She said.

* * *

Lana exited the bathroom after going number one and washing her hands. While unable to give her two cents on the situation earlier due to holding back Lola, the tomboy twin was very disappointed in Lynn. Especially since she looked up to her. But now that image had been tarnished, and the chances of Lynn being restored to that level was pretty low. About as low as Lola liking a dutch oven in fact. But as the girl was about to enter her room she noticed a green light coming from Lincoln's room. Rubbing her eyes and looking again, the girl found no light whatsoever.

Believing it to be her imagination, the girl simply went into her room, closed the door, and went to sleep. Unaware of her pets trying to cower from the wall that had Lincoln's room on the other side.

* * *

 **A/N: Yes you are right to assume that the movie happened. Let me know what you think in the reviews. Also this is one of two stories I'll be posting that will eventually take the place of Shadow Luck as the go to story while in wait of updates for the Marvelous Eleven. Later today I'll post the other one, as well as put up a poll on which you want me to continue on after Shadow Luck is over.**

 ***An expy of Mario Odyssey.**

 ***An expy of Sonic Forces.**

 ***An expy of Sonic Mania.**

 ***A line from the 1990's computer game Pajama Sam in: No need to hide when it's dark outside.**


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